Relapse
by melancholic-proficiency
Summary: Isaac had his reasons. Whether or not the ends justified the means was an entirely different story, however. A 3-Part Oneshot.


**relapse; part 1  
"this is why-"**

Never mind the unsettling acknowledgment that these horrid monsters were the closest thing he had to company for quite a long time, with the exact amount of instances where Isaac Clarke had dealt with a surprise attack from an otherwise sadistically enthusiastic Necromorph had long surpassed a number he could continue to keep track of.

(Let it be known before further procession that they were still seen as dreadful pieces of **shit **in his eyes; **shit** that he only wish could be demolished all at once and in the most torturous and justifiable way imaginable.)

For some reason, despite everything, he felt it necessary to _thank_ them.

Indeed, the engineer found himself constantly clinging to a vague shred of hope that he would stumble upon an actual human being – nothing more, and certainly nothing less. And it was all thanks to being pursued by possibly the most contradicting and opposite form of a human that very few people would ever have the pleasure of both meeting in their lifetimes _and_ living to tell about it.

(That just made him a hell of a lucky _bastard_, right? Ha.)

The Necromorphs were just so hideous in their own existence to the point where he became motivated to _stay away_, he supposed. He'd grown weary and agitated at constantly expecting the undead to pop out of an overhead air vent, or sneak up on him with a venomous and bone-chilling growl.

Isaac wanted, no, _needed_ to reassure himself that there was someone out there dealing with the same unfortunate circumstances; he wasn't alone both in the monster _and_ the human sense.

Unfortunately, his wish had been granted only a mere once or twice during his journey, but he was either too late to save the person, either from an irreversible transformation to one of _them_, or from an unfair and far too soon spiral into death itself. The guilt at having countless opportunities become traumatizing moments in the same instant stacked upon him like slabs of concrete; with the longer he ventured into the Sprawl, the more his determination dwindled and began to turn against him.

Needless to say, he was almost too eager to blame his subconscious's horrible tendency to induce hallucinations at the worst possible times upon coming across Ellie. He initially viewed the female's presence as a threat; a title prominently serving to label the very reasons that his RIG suit was marred with scrapes and dents, some of which had even imprinted bruises along his very skin. With trembling hands and a permanent fatigued facial expression, it appeared he was deprived of the basic necessities needed to function so much that it was pure wonder his physical fatigue hadn't overwhelmed him before his emotional and mental issues.

Those _fucking_ monsters – including the ones in his head as well... - had nearly made him miss out on a chance at forming an alliance with a stranger who had the potential to be trusted.

So it only made sense that it had taken him a couple of moments to re-assess the situation and thus reassure himself that his insistence on keeping his goal alive had not been a complete lost cause.

First off, the woman had not scabbed, infected and gruesome skin; on the contrary, it appeared smooth to the touch, tan, and covered in a thin sheet of perspiration that made her form shine awkwardly against the dimmed lights that had surrounded her at the time. _Understandable_.

Secondly, she still had hair atop of her head, and as a bonus, it'd been styled into two ponytails along either of her shoulders. This was certainly huge, considering the balding malformed heads of his other antagonists.

Lastly, she _breathed_, albeit the execution was in heavy and distraught pants, but it was still a familiar gasping for much wanted air that he only had heard come from himself alone up until now. It wasn't low, throaty growling complete with occasional hissing that caused acidic-like saliva to bubble at the corner of the jaws of most Necromorphs.

**She was human, **thus, in essence, his saving grace.

He could finally put that one little personal worry to rest, as the rest was sure to come easier from here on out.

And to think he hadn't even learned her name yet.

end of part one.

* * *

_| | lovely lil' author notes:_

_Hi. I didn't want to put this at the beginning and ruin the mood. *thunder boom*_

_So. Words cannot begin to convey how excited I am for this. After seeing the amount of fantastic DS fics on here, you all have inspired me. Thus, after 3 days [coincidence?] I bring you 'relapse': a 3 part oneshot-y fic with an ever-changing summary. There'll be relationship references to both Isaac x Ellie [friendship] as well as Isaac x Nicole [romance]. _

_I'm actually writing it as I go along, but I do know what the content will be and how it'll be distributed throughout the three parts. Hopefully it all goes as planned._

_I do sincerely apologize if I've made Isaac OOC thus far; it was completely unintentional. Same apology applies to all other canon characters as they're introduced/mentioned... I tried my best, but I'm willing to receive any comments/suggestions if you have them._

_Thank you ever so much for reading. I hope you all enjoy and stick around to the end~. :]_


End file.
